1. Minnesota Lynx (13-3), The Lynx have lost consecutive games for the first time this season, but after their fast start it would be foolish to not keep them on top of the rankings. But make no mistake, the gap between them and the rest of the league is closing fast.
2. San Antonio Silver Stars (9-5), The Silver Stars are finally putting it all together. There was no question that the team had talent, but it wasn’t consistently resulting in wins. Now it is and San Antonio is closing in on the second seed in the West.
3. Los Angeles Sparks (11-6), After an up-and-down month, the Sparks scored a very important win over Minnesota on Thursday. The win is all the more important as the Silver Stars closed the gap on the Sparks in the West quickly.
4. Seattle Storm (7-8), No disrespect to the East, but there isn’t much question that the West is loaded. The Storm have won six of seven after starting the season 1-7. The offense has improved dramatically and as always, Seattle hangs its hat on defense.
5. Connecticut Sun (10-4), Only five games separate the top five teams in the wide-open Eastern Conference. The Sun have been the most consistent of those five teams, but suffered a loss at home to the Storm this past Sunday.
6. Chicago Sky (8-5), The Sky remain near the top of the East, but have gone just 1-4 since losing Epiphanny Prince to injury.
7. Indiana Fever (8-6), The Fever suffered a bad loss to the Silver Stars on Thursday and face a big challenge in Connecticut on Saturday. Another loss and Atlanta will be knocking on the door for the No. 3 seed.
8. Atlanta Dream (7-8), Sometimes it seems like the Dream just do enough to make the playoffs before they turn it on, as evidenced by representing the east in the WNBA Finals the past two seasons. It has worked for them so far, but it doesn’t seem like the path of least resistance.
9. New York Liberty (5-9), The Liberty are the only team to beat the Storm in Seattle’s last seven games, but New York still seems to be missing something to make itself a true contender.
10. Phoenix Mercury (4-11), The record is terrible and the Mercury miss Diana Taurasi greatly, but one positive has been the emergence of rookie guard Samantha Prahalis.
11. Tulsa Shock (2-12), After seeing the Washington Mystics and Shock both play live now this season, I am not sure which team is better. All I have determined is that neither team is very good.
12 Washington Mystics (3-10), See No. 11
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